‘The American Banking System is Really Safe’: Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen Desperately Tries to Put Out Fire Sparked By Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

With business titans predicting an economic meltdown Monday morning following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank if the U.S. government does not intervene, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tried to assuage fears that the worst-case scenarios will materialize.

Speaking with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday, Yellen addressed the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and sought to instill confidence in U.S. banks.

“The American banking system is really safe and well-capitalized,” Yellen said. “It’s resilient. In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, new controls were put in place better capital and liquidity supervision, and was tested during the early days of the pandemic, and proved its resilience so Americans can have confidence in the safety and soundness of our banking system.”

Yellen, though, pointed to those new controls as a reason why the U.S. government does not plan to bail out Silicon Valley bank.

“Let me be clear that during the financial crisis, there were investors and owners of systemic large banks that were bailed out, and the reforms that have been put in place means that we’re not going to do that again,” she said.

Silicon Valley failed after a run on the bank Friday. There are fears Silicon Valley’s collapse could spark a run on regional banks. Brennan asked if there would be any sort of government intervention before the re-opening of the stock exchange.

“Do you expect a deal or something to happen that can reassure the markets before Asia opens tonight, and U.S. markets open tomorrow?: Brennan asked.

“We certainly are working to address the situation in a timely way,” Yellen replied.

Watch above, via CBS.